The latest version of this FAQ will always be available from
http://www.gamefaqs.com.

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wwwwwwwwwww If the block of characters on the left has a straight
mmmmmmmmmmm right-hand edge, you are using a monospaced font.
iiiiiiiiiii This FAQ looks far better viewed in a monospaced font.
OoOoOoOoOoO Use EDIT, DOS TYPE, the Netscape text viewer, or MORE
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
**************************** LEGAL BITS ******************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Neither the author of this FAQ, nor any person who distributes it in
any way, shall be responsible or liable for anything that results from
using this FAQ for any purpose, including but not limited to
damage to your Dreamcast, controllers, hands, eyes, or sanity
(which may be oddly likely with this title).

This FAQ may be freely distributed provided that it is kept unmodified
and in its entirity. This FAQ may not be sold, or included as part
of a publication that is sold, without the author's express
permission.

Dream Studio is (c) Sega Enterprises, 2000. The use of any trademarks
within this FAQ is not intended to represent a challenge to their
validity.

Dream Studio is an 3D adventure creation tool for the Dreamcast. It
allows the creation of fully 3D interactive adventure-style games.
Although it does not have hard-wired systems for magic or combat,
these can be added using the condition and scripting language included
within it.

Dream Studio is an intensely complex piece of software, and this
FAQ attempts to unravel it. This first version of the FAQ is
extremely incomplete, but I have posted it so people can get an
initial flavor of what's being found out. It will be updated as I
find out more.

The FAQ is divided into sections:

TUTORIAL SECTION - A walkthrough-style introduction to Dream Studio.

REFERENCE SECTION - A reference to each part of the tool.

LIBRARY INDICES - List of all items available in the libraries on
the GDROM.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
R1 General Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
R1.1 Editor modes
-----------------
The Editor can operate in one of two modes: beginner or expert mode.
You are asked to choose which you want when you create a game and you
can change your mind while editing by going to the Game Properties
screen and changing the setting there.

Beginner mode and Expert mode are more or less the same except that
in Beginner mode certain options will be disabled or ghosted out.
Most of the menu translations listed here apply to Expert mode.

R1.2 Dialog structure
---------------------
Most Dialogues in Dream Studio are divided into two parts: a Standard
section and an Advanced section. You can fold down the Advanced
section of any dialog by hitting the button in the lower right-hand
corner. ALL dialogues will then display their Advanced section until
you press the lower right-hand button on any dialog again.

The lower-right hand button will be ghosted and give an error sound if
you select it while the editor is in Beginner Mode.

R1.3 Text entry
---------------
Many parts of Dream Studio require you to enter text. The text
entry system is as follows.

Use the digital joypad to move around and select letters from the
pad, and choose menu items from the menu on the right. The A button
selects letters and options. Letters are added at the point of the
cursor; the epsilon sign indicates the end of the string and cannot
be moved. The other buttons perform the following functions:

L Switch displayed character set (Hiragana/Katakana/Romaji/Dingbats)
X Insert a space
B Delete last character
R Insert carriage return (if appropriate)
Y Hold Y and move digital joystick left and right to move cursor

The menu is as follows:

Switch character set (same as L trigger)
Insert a space (same as X)
Insert carriage return (if appropriate) (same as R)
Delete last character (same as B)
Delete current character
Cancel
Ok

Pressing START will immediately jump the cursor to the OK button on the
menu.

Note that when you're editing a Script, the Text Entry box will often be
preceded by a list of all strings already in the game (comments, object
names, other messages, etc). You can select one of these to reuse it. This
will help make your game smaller, since the game doesn't have to store the
same string twice.

R1.4 Safety lines
-----------------
The term "safety line" will be used several times in this FAQ. A
safety line is a line of hyphens appearing on a menu as an option. It will
do nothing when selected other than produce an error beep. The only
reason for it is to seperate dangerous menu options (like Delete) from
the rest of the menu.

R1.5 Start Menu
---------------
Hitting the Start Button anywhere in the editor will give you this menu:

Playtest game
Switch editor (World Editor to Scenario Editor or back)
Reset game
Game Properties
Exit to title
File menu

If you are in Expert Mode, "Play Game" will give you a submenu:

From here
From this sheet (only if you have a sheet in the scenario editor open. The
sheet will activate as soon as the game is started)
From the castle (?)

While playtesting, you can hit the START button to open this menu:

Play On
Return to Editor

You cannot save or load games while playtesting. If you "Return to
Editor" while in the middle of an event, a warning is shown that this may
leave the game in a weird state if you return from the editor again.
Choose the left option to edit anyway, right option to return to pause
menu.
Note that changes made to the map in the course of play WILL be reflected
in the editor. For example, if you start the game and move the hero a bit
to the left, he will remain there when the editor is restarted. To put him
back where you placed him, use the Game Reset option. In Expert mode, this
gives you a submenu:

Everything except the map
Everything

Game Properties will take you to the Game Properties screen. Exit to title
will return you to the main menu (asking if you're sure first). And File will
offer you a submenu:

Most of these are self explanatory. "Editor mode" lets you switch the
editor between expert and beginner mode.

R1.7 HSV Colour
---------------

Dream Studio uses the HSV system for determining colours. Each
colour is defined by the following properties:

HUE: The actual base colour involved in the mix. Varies based on the
position of the colour in the EM spectrum: reds are low, blues are
high.

SATURATION: How much of the base colour is mixed in with the base
gray. 100% is pure base. 0% is pure grey.

VALUE: How bright the base grey is.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
R2 Opening/Setup
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Opening Menu is as follows:

Create A Game
Play A Game
Options
Internet

R2.1 Create A Game
------------------
After selecting the Create A Game option, a menu will appear:

Edit an existing game
Make a new game

If you choose "Edit existing game", you will go to the file
management screen to load the game you want to edit.
If you choose "Make a new game", a series of prompts will
appear:

- First, the game asks you to confirm that you really want to make
a new game from scratch. Press A to confirm or any other
button to back out.

- You're then asked for your name.

- You're then asked for the title of your game.

- You're then asked to select the initial mode of the editor: the
left option is beginner mode, the right option is expert mode.

- Finally, you're asked to choose the initial model for the hero
object from the model library. Once you've done so, you'll pop
straight into the World Editor. (Yes, you can choose *any*
object from the library, so if you want to write "The adventures
of a Dungeon T-Piece", go ahead.)

R2.2 Play A Game
----------------
After selecting to Play A Game, a menu will appear:

Load a saved game
Play a new game

If you choose "Load a saved game", you will go to the file management
screen to load your game. Note that the GD-ROM disc will not be
available as saved games can't go there.
If you choose "Play a new game", you will go to the file management
screen anyway, to load the game file that you want to play. The GD-ROM
will be available.
Once you have chosen, you will begin to play the game as normal. The
analogue joystick controls your character and the digital one moves
the camera. The effect of other buttons is dependant upon the game
design. Pressing START will lead you to a menu:

Play on
Save game
Load game
Main menu

R2.3 Options
------------
There are only two options:

Sound (Stereo/Mono)
Vibration (On/Off)

Sound is Mono if the second character is a single line, Stereo
otherwise. Vibration is On if the string is 4 characters long, Off if
it is 5.

The World Editor is used to place objects within your game world for
the player to interact with.
The screen will show a view of the game world. Use the digital
joystick to move the camera around, and the L and R buttons to zoom in
and out. The top of the screen will show "energy bars" indicating the
amount of memory you have used overall and how near you are to exceeding
the object limit for the map.
Note: When a map is first loaded, the Dreamcast loads the objects one
at a time. The map will slowly fill itself in as the objects are
loaded, and the Map limit bar will slowly rise. If you start
Playtesting while the Map is still loading, the "Now Loading" box will
appear until it's caught up.
Use the analogue joystick to move the object cursor around the map.
By default it moves in the X and Z axes (ie, along the ground), but you
can move it in the Y axis by holding down the X button and pushing up
and down on the analogue stick.
To edit an object, or create a new one, hit the A button. If there is
no object near the cursor you will automatically go to the object
creation dialog. If there is an object, or several, near the cursor,
a menu of all the objects near the cursor will appear. You can select
one to edit, or you can choose the bottom option (with filled in square
characters in it) to create a new object regardless.

R3.2 Objects
-------------

R3.2.1 Creating Objects
------------------------
To create an object, hit the A button when there is no object near
the cursor, or hit the A button and choose the bottom option from the
menu of objects.
When you create an object, you will first be asked to choose the
model for the object. You will then go to the Object Properties page
just as if you were editing the object. When you finish there, you will
return to the menu with the object highlighted in the cursor. You can
then place your object on the map by hitting A. If you want to place
more than one, continue moving the cursor and hitting A to create
copies. When you're finished placing, press B. While placing an
object, you can rotate the object by holding down X and pressing the
triggers.

R3.2.2 Editing Objects
-----------------------
To edit an object, hit the A button when near that object and then
select that object's name from the list of objects that appears.
The edit menu will then appear:

Note that the Copy and Delete options do NOT appear if the object you
selected is the hero.
Object Properties will open the Object Properties sheet. Object
Position will allow you to place the object again as you did when
creating it. Current Position is the same, except that the position
isn't retained after a reset or saved in the game - you can move the
object just for playtesting purposes. Copy lets you place a copy of the
object, and copy to another map.. well, you can probably guess. :)
Delete will get rid of the object.

Object name: This is the name the object will appear with in menus
and the editors. By default this is the same as the name of the model,
but you'll probably want to change it to something in English.
Object model: The model used for the object.
Mood: May be ghosted if inapplicable for the model. The mood of the
character represented by the object. Choose from normal, angry, happy,
etc. They are clearly pictured on the screen so there is no real need
for translation.
Scheme: May be ghosted if inapplicable for the model. Pick one of up
to four colour schemes for the object.
Behaviour: Gives you a submenu:
Stand still with an action (takes you to Action Properties)
Stand still
Move back and forth
Follow another object
Ghosted if the object is the hero.
Left Arm, Right Arm: May be ghosted if inapplicable for the model.
Allows you to choose what item the character is holding in its left or
right hand. Choose from either "items" section of the Model Library.

The advanced section is as follows:

Visibility ON Animation ON ?????? OFF
Colour

Visibility: Controls if the object will be visible or not. If you
set this OFF, the object won't be visible until a script makes it become
so. Since scripts can't create new objects, this is a good way of
generating effects.
Animation: Controls if the object's ambient animation (based on its
Action) will run or not.
???????: Don't know.
Colour: The base colour of the object.

R3.2.4 Action Properties
-------------------------

This window is used to control the action taken by an object. It is
as follows:

Action select: Choose an Action from the Action Library. If the
model isn't human the set of actions might be different.
# repeats: How many times the action should be repeated. The
maximum left value repeats infinately.
Reverse Ani: If ON, the animation is played backwards.
Speed: Sets the speed of the animation.
Freeze pose: If selected, the animation will be frozen.
Freeze frame select: Select which frame from the animation is frozen.
Use these controls to create original static poses by pinching them from
action animations.

R3.3 Maps
---------

Hitting Y in the World editor brings up the list of maps. The
current map is shown in Red; the lowest option, marked with squares,
creates a new map.
If you select the current map, the following menu appears:

Map properties
Copy map
(safety line)
Delete all objects

If you select a map that is not current, you get the following
menu:

Make this map current
Make this map current + edit properties
Copy map
(safety line)
Delete map

Most of these are self explanatory. The map properties sheet is
as follows:

Ahhhh..... Now *this* is the big one. This editor is used to specify
how you want your characters in the game to behave; essentially, to
write the plot of your game.
The scenario of the game consists of three sections: one Book, and
some number of Sheets with attached Scripts.
A Script specifies a series of actions which occur (objects moving,
effects, messages, etc.)
A Sheet specifies the conditions under which an action occurs (eg,
when you talk to someone, hit an object, etc.)
The Book specifies how Sheets link to each other.

---------
R4.1 Book
---------

When you first enter the Scenario editor, the screen will display
the Book. The Book consists of a number of sheets (square items)
linked together by lines.
You create Sheets using the Book in order to create events in the
game. You control the flow of events in the game by linking the
Sheets together.
Each sheet has four "input" points at the top, and four "output"
points at the bottom; you connect input points to output points and
vice versa. "Sparks" are sent along the connections; they are send
from output points to input points. (You can't input or output
values from sheets as you can in a programming language. Yes,
"sparks" are really just binary values, but it's a nicer name. :) )
For a sheet to activate, it *must* recieve a spark on one of its
inputs. A sheet that has none of its inputs connected will never
activate. A sheet that has recieved and accepted a spark is said
to be "ready". The sheet itself may then have an extra condition
that needs to be met in the game. When that condition is also
met, the sheet "fires", its associated script runs, and it will
generate a spark on its left-hand output (unless something in its
script makes it generate it somewhere else). A single output can be
connected to several places, in which case it sends a spark on
all its connections. An input can also have several things
connected to it; how these are dealt with is looked at in the Sheet
section.
There are two special sheets in the book at the start: the Start
sheet (S) and the End sheet (E). The Start sheet has a single output
which will generate a spark as soon as the game begins. The End
sheet has a single input; if it ever recieves a spark the game ends
and Dream Studio returns to either the editor or the main menu.
(NOTE: The start sheet generates a spark only when the game is
started for the first time - remember that Playtesting doesn't
restart the game! So if you change any connections to the Start
sheet, you must do a Game Reset for the connected sheets to recieve
their spark.)

To create a new sheet, click in any empty space. To link sheets
together, click and HOLD on one of the input/output ports of a sheet
and drag the connection to the port you want to connect it to.
When you click on a sheet, you'll get the following menu:

Edit Script and Edit Sheet take you to the appropriate editors.
Copy and Delete are self explanatory; move will let you move the
sheet around on the book display (which you can also do by holding
down A on it and dragging)

To edit the comment, point at the COMMENT bar and hit A. You type the
comment using the standard text interface.
To edit the condition, press on the Condition Editor box. The Icon
shown in the Condition Editor box is the one that will be used to
represent the sheet in the Book. It is determined by the nature of
the Condition which will be looked at in R4.2.1.
To edit the script, press on the Script Editor box. You will go to
the Script Editor as described in R4.3.
The four input boxes are used to edit the properties of input sparks.
See R4.2.2.

R4.2.1 Condition Editor
-----------------------
When you first choose to set the condition, you will be given the
following menu of condition types:

System trigger: The sheet has no condition; it fires as soon as it is
made ready by sparks. The icon will be an A in a box.

Map hit area: The sheet fires when the hero enters a location on the
map. You will be taken to the World editor to specify the location.
Use the analogue to move the area and the X button and triggers to set
the size of the area. The icon will be a grid square.

Map hit area + button: The sheet fires when the hero enters a location
on the map and the player presses a button. You will set the hit area
as above and you will also choose the button that will be required.

Object hit area: The sheet fires when the hero touches an object. You
will be taken to the World editor to choose the object.

Object movement area: ?

Object hit area and button: The sheet fires when the player hits a
button while the hero is touching an object. You will set the object
as above and will also choose the button that will be required.

Object collision: The sheet fires when two objects crash into each
other.

Remember that a sheet must be made ready (by recieving sparks) before
it can fire regardless of the condition specified.

R4.2.2 Spark control
--------------------

By clicking on the four inputs at the top of the box, you can choose
how the sheet will behave with respect to sparks recieved. By and
large the following rules always hold true:

a) The sheet will NEVER be ready until it recieves a spark.
b) The sheet will become ready if the specified condition is met on
ANY of its four inputs. (For logic fans, inputs are ORed.)

When you click on an input, you will be given the following options
for how sparks should be treated on that input:

Any spark, once only (expert mode only)
Any spark, multiple
All sparks, once only
All sparks, multiple (expert mode only)
Any spark disables (expert mode only)
All sparks disable (expert mode only)

ANY SPARK, ONCE ONLY: If ANY spark is recieved on this port, the sheet
will become ready. The sheet can only be made ready once by a spark on
this port.

ANY SPARK, MULTIPLE: If ANY spark is recieved on this port, the sheet
becomes ready. The sheet can be activated several times by sparks on
this port.

ALL SPARKS, ONCE ONLY: If a spark is recieved from ALL OUTPUTS connected
to the port, the sheet will become ready. The sheet can only be made
ready once this way.

ALL SPARKS, MULTIPLE: If a spark is recieved from ALL OUTPUTS connected
to the port, the sheet will become ready. After the first time, the
sheet will become ready again if another spark is recieved from ANY
of the connected outputs.

ANY SPARK DISABLES: If ANY spark is recieved on this port, the sheet
will CEASE to be ready (if it was ready in the first place). This can
happen any number of times.

ALL SPARKS DISABLE: If a spark is recieved from ALL OUTPUTS connected
to this port, the sheet will CEASE to be ready (if it was ready in the
first place). This can happen any number of times.

Note: be careful. "ANY SPARK MULTIPLE" means only that the sheet
will become ready every time it recieves a spark. It does not mean
that the sheet will be able to fire multiple times when it recieves
one spark. To make a sheet that can fire multiple times, connect the
output of the sheet to its own input port, so the spark it generates
returns back to it and makes it ready again.

-----------
R4.3 Script
-----------

The Script editor lets you specify what happens when a sheet triggers.
This is where you will write all the events and dialogues in your game.

The Script editor's main display is a timeline: the left edge of the
display is the time when the script begins to run. As you move the
cursor left and right, the top left corner of the screen will display
the point in time represented by the cursor's present location. Each
entity involved in the script will have an activity line on the the
display. Solid blocks on the activity line indicate the times at which
the entity is performing actions within the script; the colour of the
block indicates what action is being performed. The time resolution
of the script is one frame; the actual amount of space representing
this on the line will vary with the zoom level of the lines. (If you've
ever used Shockwave Flash you'll know what's going on here.)

As an example of the appearance of the script editor with a few lines
and actions added:

This shows an event in which first the dragon performs an action for a
few seconds, then a message appears, then the hero performs an action for a few
seconds.

R4.3.1 Script editor basics
----------------------------

To add lines to the script: Hit the "event control" button and select
the type of line you want to add. You can have only one of most lines;
you can have several Object lines, provided they all refer to different
objects. The list of lines offered is:

Click on the box at the left hand side of a line to get the following menu:

New track (takes you to the menu above)
Move track
(safety line)
Delete

To create an event, click a point on a line where you want to create the
event. You will be given a menu offering the type of event, and then the
Event Properties sheet. These menus and options will vary based on the
track, and on the event. To move an event, point to it, hold A and drag; to
change the length of an event, use the handles attached to either end of the
bar. Clicking once on an existing event will get you:

Event Properties
Copy
Move
Move forward +1 frame
(safety line)
Delete

R4.3.2 Event list
------------------
This section will look at the list of possible events on each track and
the options on their Event Properties sheets.

R4.3.2.1 Messages track events
-------------------------------

The potential events on the Messages track are:

Message
Menu
String Entry
Button
Timed button
Probability

MESSAGE: A single message is displayed in a pop-up box, dialogue style.
The Event Properties only has one basic entry: the message to be shown.
The advanced section also contains one entry: whether the message should
appear at the top or bottom of the screen.

MENU: The user is given a menu of options to choose from. The Event
Properties contains, in order, the menu title, and the text of each
of the four options.

STRING ENTRY: The user is asked to input a string. The Event properties
contains the title given to the user at the input time, and four option
strings. The user must enter one of these strings exactly or the game
will not continue.

BUTTON: The user is asked to press a button. The Event Properties
contains four option settings; press A on one and then hit any button or
direction on the digital stick to set which button will activate that
option.

These four options above will each have a fixed length of 1 second.
However, when they are encountered the entire script stops running
and waits for the user's response.

TIMED BUTTON: Works in exactly the same way as Button, except it
doesn't wait for the user. The user must hit a button within the
time assigned to the event. The Properties has the four button
options as with the Button event, plus an additional one which
specifies which if the options is selected if the time runs out
before the user presses the button.

PROBABILITY: Randomly picks one of four choices. Properties has
four sliders to set the percentage probability of each choice being
picked.

On all the above items that give four choices, which choice is
selected will determine which of the outputs from the sheet
generates a spark when the script finishes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
L3 - Sample game library
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Note: If you load the examples into the editor, do a Game Reset
before playtesting, or the Sheets will not run.]

Initial Data
- This is the initial settings loaded when you start to create a
game - the default landscape and trees and an empty Book.
Orphe's Wonderful? Country
- A complete sample game with UI.
Do your Best, Master
- A complete sample game with UI. Don't drink the blue bottle
(unless you want to watch the intro twice)
Example: Opening
- A scripted opening sequence. Just watch.
Example: Meeting people
- How to encounter folks. Walk up to the people around the town.
Example: Map switching
- Walk into the cabin door and observe the location switch.
Example: Sky/weather
- Walk up the mountain and see the sky change.
Example: Getting items
- Look in the barrel and the crate.
Example: Items changing state
- Look in the treasure chest twice.
Example: Picking up and carrying items
- Get the apple.
Example: Dialogue, interaction, effects
- Talk to the angel. On the first two answers, he sends you to
jail; on the third, he gives you an axe, and on the fourth,
he runs off.
Example: Using items
- Try opening the door. Then look in the chest and try the
door again.
Example: Menu based combat
- Take on the skeleton in FF style combat.
Example: Dungeon 1-3
- Explore the dungeons and see how to create them.
Example: Many monsters
- Destroy the skeleton without being caught by the zombies.
[If a zombie touches you, you will "die", but the game does
not include game over so that you can see the final state
of the sheets. Quit to the editor and do a game reset to
play again.]
Example: Trap
- Get down the corridor avoiding the very unfair traps.
Example: Gimmick
- Push the crates around.
Example: Combat scenario
- Climb the mountain and save the priestess.
Example: World map
- Touch the sign to view the overall map.
Dream studio staff roll
- Watch the funky dancing girls and the credits for DreamStudio.
Orphe Demo
- A demo sequence from Orphe.
DreamStudio Demo
- Rolling demo showing off features of Dream Studio.

Since this is the first version, there's only one credit: Me,
mark [at] antelope.demon.co.uk. Please send e-mail contributions and
suggestions to this address. Please don't send requests for
information - everything I know is already here.